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Wellington Henry Stapleton Cotton, 2nd Viscount Combermere (1818-1891)
}} Biography Wellington Henry Stapleton Cotton, 2nd Viscount Combermere (1818-1891) * BORN: 24 Nov 1818, Bridgetown, St. Michael, Barbados, Windward Islands, Lesser Antilles, West Indies * KINSHIP: Only surviving son and heir, being by 2nd wife. * EDUCATION: Eton; matriculated at Oxford (Christ Church), 1837. * MILITARY: Entered the army; Captain – 1st Life Guards, 1846; Secretary to the Master General of the Ordnance, 1852; Colonel – army, 1861; retired, 1866. * OFFICE: Member of Parliament (Conservative), for Carrickfergus, Ireland 1847-1857. * TITLES: Succeeded father, in 1865, as Viscount Combermere of Bhurtpore, title created 1827; as Baron Combermere, title created 1814; as a Baronet, title created 29 Mar 1677. * DIED: 1 Dec 1891, St. James’s Place, Westminster, London, England. Buried at Wrenbury church. * PROBATE: Will dated 30 Nov 1887; codicil dated 20 Feb 1888; will proved 17 Feb 1892 Combermere was born in Barbados, while his father was the Governor there. He was educated at Audlem Grammar School, Cheshire, and Eton College, then attended Christ Church, Oxford in 1837 before entering the army. Stapleton-Cotton was commissioned into the 7th Hussars in 1837, and served in Canada, where the regiment took part in suppressing the Papineau Rebellion, before returning to England in 1841, when he exchanged his commission into the 1st Life Guards. He was promoted Captain in 1846, and Major in 1850,2 holding a staff position as Secretary to the Master General of Ordnance from March to December 1852.3 He was promoted to Lieutenant-colonel in 1857,2 and achieved the rank of full Colonel in 1861, retiring from the army in 1866.3 In 1847 he was returned to Parliament for Carrickfergus, a seat he held until 1857. In 1865 he succeeded his father in the viscountcy and entered the House of Lords. In 1844 Lord Combermere married Susan Alice, daughter of Sir George Sitwell, 2nd Baronet (1797-1853). They had two sons and two daughters. She died in August 1869. Lord Combermere survived her by 22 years and died of coronary thrombosis at his London home in St James' Place in December 1891, aged 73, seven weeks after being run over by a horse-drawn carriage. He was buried at Wrenbury, Cheshire. He was succeeded in the viscountcy by his eldest son, Robert. Cotton Family Ancestry The Cotton Family of Combermere Abbey has an extensive family ancestry that is directly descended from Henry II of England (1133-1189), Charlemagne (747-814) and the ancient Kings of Wessex. There are also many other notable family descendants. Combermere Abbey Principle residence was the Combermere Abbey located in Dodcott cum Wilkesley, English County of Cheshire. A former Christian monastery founded in 1130 AD and at one time the third largest church in Cheshire. In August 1539, the abbey and its estates, were granted to Sir George Cotton, an esquire of the body to Henry VIII of England (1491-1547). The Cotton Family kept it as a country home which they held up till 1919. Marriage and Family MARRIED: At Eckington, Derbyshire, 29,7.1844, Susan Alice Sitwell of Derbyshire 1819 – 12.8.1869, daughter of Sir George Sitwell, Bt. # Robert Wellington Stapleton, 3rd Viscount Combermere of Bhurtpore (1845-1898) # Caroline Susan Mary Cotton (1846-1916) # Hester Alice Cotton (1851-1930) # Richard Southwell George Cotton (1849-1925) Combermere Ghost Photo Sybell Corbet took this photo of the magnificent Combermere Abbey Library in 1891, shortly after the Viscount's death. What looks to be a man's head and upper torso can be seen sitting in the chair. Many of the staff said that the image looked like the late lord Combermere. She was Lady Combermere's sister and staying at Combermere Abbey at that time. She set up her camera with its shutter open for one hour in the Abbey Library while the entire staff were out, attending Lord Combermere's funeral some four miles away. When the plate was developed, the transparent image of a man sitting in one of the library chairs was noticed. It is thought by some that during that time a servant might have come into the room and sat briefly in the chair, creating the transparent image. This idea was refuted by members of the household, all testifying that they were all attending Lord Combermere's funeral. - References * Lord Combermeres Ghost Photo * Combermere Abbey - Wikipedia * 1st Viscount Combermere - Wikipedia *Combermere Abbey *Combermere Restoration - Cotton Family History *[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=39977 'Houses of Cistercian monks: The abbey of Combermere' in A History of the County of Chester (Vol. 3), pp. 150–156 (1980)] *The Cottons of Combermere Abbey